Tag: hire

New England Patriots hire former Wisconsin football assistant

New England Patriots hire former Wisconsin football assistant

The New England Patriots are hiring former Wisconsin football assistant Thomas Brown as their tight ends coach and pass game coordinator, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero.

Brown previously interviewed for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator position. However, the Patriots, led by new head coach Mike Vrabel, hired longtime assistant Josh McDaniels instead.

Related: Wisconsin legend Jim Leonhard’s 2025 coaching destination revealed

According to Pelissero, Brown ‘impressed Mike Vrabel in [the offensive coordinator] interview,’ leading to this hire.

Brown held a similar title with the Chicago Bears entering the 2024 season. He was promoted twice during the year: first to interim offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron’s firing, and then to interim head coach after Matt Eberflus was let go.

The Bears went 1-4 in the final five games with him at the helm. Brown interviewed for their head coach vacancy after the season, though the team elected to hire Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson instead.

Brown spend the 2014 season as Wisconsin’s running backs coach, guiding program legend Melvin Gordon to an all-time season (343 carries, 2,587 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns). He left the program after that year for the same position at Georgia, where he played running back from 2004-07.

The well-traveled assistant coach went on to spend time at Miami (OC, 2016-18) and South Carolina (RBs, 2019) at the college level, then with the Los Angeles Rams (RBs, 2020-21, then TEs in 2022) and the Carolina Panthers (OC, 2023) in the NFL.

He is one of several former Wisconsin assistants making moves at the NFL level. Former Badgers quarterback Scott Tolzien just left the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, while Jim Leonhard signed on with Denver for another season.

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Report: Former Wisconsin assistant ‘in talks’ with NFL team for next coaching role

Report: Former Wisconsin assistant ‘in talks’ for next coaching role

ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported on Sunday that former Wisconsin assistant Thomas Brown remains ‘in talks’ to potentially join the Patriots coaching staff.

Brown had recently interviewed for the team’s offensive coordinator position under new head coach Mike Vrabel. While the team hired Josh McDaniels, it still appears interested in adding Brown to its staff.

Related: Former Wisconsin quarterback ‘expected to move on’ from Dallas Cowboys coaching staff

“Brown opened last season as the Bears’ passing game coordinator, and the Patriots could potentially look towards that type of role for him, in addition to working with a specific position group,” Reiss wrote.

Brown has led coaching headlines over the last few months. The former Wisconsin running backs coach (2014) began the 2024 season as the Bears’ passing game coordinator. He was promoted to offensive coordinator on Nov. 12 after Shane Waldron’s firing, then soon received another promotion to interim head coach on Nov. 29 after the team dismissed Matt Eberflus.

The Bears went 1-4 to close the season under his watch — that win coming in Week 18 against the Green Bay Packers. The team finished the season 5-12 and in last place in the NFC North.

The longtime assistant coach interviewed for the Bears head coaching vacancy before Ben Johnson’s hiring. He then had the mentioned interview for the Patriots’ OC job, which went to McDaniels.

Reiss’ reporting indicates that Brown could still hold a prominent role on the Patriots coaching staff, if the move is finalized.

Brown coached Wisconsin’s running backs in 2014 under then-head coach Gary Andersen. He oversaw a record-breaking season from star Melvin Gordon: 343 carries, 2,587 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns. Many statistics even point to Gordon’s 2014 campaign being better than Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty’s Heisman-finalist 2024 season.

Brown left the Badgers in 2015 to coach running backs at Georgia. He was then the offensive coordinator at Miami from 2016-18, running backs coach at South Carolina in 2019, running backs coach for the Los Angeles Rams from 2020-21, tight ends coach for the Rams in 2022 and offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

He is one of several former Wisconsin coaches in the headlines. Scott Tolzien just left the Dallas Cowboys‘ staff, while we all await what’s next for program legend Jim Leonhard.

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Former Wisconsin quarterback ‘expected to move on’ from Dallas Cowboys coaching staff

Former Wisconsin quarterback ‘expected to move on’ from Dallas Cowboys coaching staff

Former Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien ‘is expected to move on’ from the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

Tolzin was the Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach under former head coach Mike McCarthy, who was recently fired after the 2024 season. According to Rapoport, Tolzien’s contract also expired at the end of the campaign.

Related: Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after the 2024 season

Owner Jerry Jones and the Cowboys brass elected to promote offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to head coach on Friday. Schottenheimer has yet to hire the rest of his coaching staff.

Tolzien was the Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach from 2022-23. He began with the team as an offensive assistant (2020-22). That followed his first coaching position: an analyst role at Wisconsin in 2019.

The former Badger entered the coaching ranks after a seven-year NFL career included stops with the San Francisco 49ers (2011-12), Green Bay Packers (2013-15) and Indianapolis Colts (2016-17). That career, mostly as a backup, concluded with 10 appearances, four starts, 88-of-146 passing, 1,065 passing yards, two touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Tolzien turned pro after five years with the Badgers (2006-10), two as the starter. He led the team to 10-3 and 11-2 seasons in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with a combined 68.1 completion percentage, 5,271 yards, 32 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott excelled in his one full year under Tolzien’s tutelage (2023), completing 69.5% of his passes for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Cowboys went 12-5 that season before a first-round playoff loss to the Packers.

Prescott then played in just eight games in 2024 before a hamstring injury ended his season. Backup Cooper Rush was fine in relief, leading the team to a 4-4 finish to the year with a 12-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Tolzien is well regarded for his work with both signal-callers.

The former Wisconsin quarterback will now search for his next coaching stop. As Rapoport implies, he shouldn’t be unemployed for long.

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Former Wisconsin assistant accepts new position under former Badgers safeties coach

Former Wisconsin linebackers coach accepts new position under former Badger assistant

This story was updated to add new information.

Former Wisconsin and Stanford inside linebackers coach Mark D’Onofrio has been hired to the same position at UCF, the program announced Friday.

D’Onofrio goes from working under one former Wisconsin assistant to another. At Stanford, he worked under defensive coordinator Bobby April III (Wisconsin OLBs coach from 2018-22). He joins a UCF defensive staff led by Alex Grinch (Wisconsin safeties coach in 2024).

Related: A look at Wisconsin football’s full coaching staff for the 2025 season

D’Onofrio spent one season with the Badgers (2022). He was one of Paul Chryst’s offseason hires entering that season, replacing longtime inside linebackers coach Bob Bostad after he moved to the offensive line. The 2022 season did not go as planned for the Badgers or anyone on the coaching staff. Chryst was fired in early October after a 2-3 start.

The veteran defensive coach followed April to Stanford after the 2022 season concluded. The program elected to not renew his contract following its 3-9 2024 campaign, instead hiring Andy Thompson to the position.

D’Onofrio moves to UCF under defensive coordinator Grinch and first-year coach Scott Frost. He and Grinch did not overlap during their time with the Badgers. Grinch spent the 2024 season with the program after several years as defensive coordinator under Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma (2019-21) and USC (2022-23).

UCF will be D’Onofrio’s eighth coaching stop. He was the linebackers coach at Rutgers from 2001-03, tight ends (2004) and inside linebackers coach (2005) at Virginia, defensive coordinator at Temple (2006-2010), defensive coordinator at Miami (2011-15) and defensive coordinator at Houston (2017-18). Those stops preceded his stints at Wisconsin (2022) and Stanford (2023-24).

Mike Tressel has held Wisconsin’s inside linebackers coach title along with his primary role as defensive coordinator for each of the past two seasons. He enters 2025 in the same role.

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Former Wisconsin football staffer named head coach of Paris Musketeers

Former Wisconsin football staffer named head coach of Paris Musketeers

Former Wisconsin football staffer Jack Del Rio is the new head coach of the European League of Football’s Paris Musketeers, according to Adam Schefter.

Del Rio spent most of the 2024 season with the Badgers as a senior adviser to head coach Luke Fickell. He resigned on Nov. 11 after an OWI arrest.

Related: Recapping Wisconsin football’s winter transfer portal movement

The longtime NFL coach began his career as an assistant strength coach with the New Orleans Saints in 1997. He then rose to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003-11, and then of the Oakland Raiders from 2015-17.

His most recent NFL stint was as defensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders from 2020-23.

The European League of Football, founded in 2020, played its first season in 2021. Eight teams were part of that inaugural season. The league now has 16 teams entering 2025. The Musketeers were one of several to join in 2023.

The Musketeers went 10-2 during the 2024 season, falling to the Vienna Vikings in the league’s semifinals. Former head coach Marc Mattioli left after the season for the defensive coordinator vacancy at Kennesaw State.

Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula is the other notable NFL name roaming a European League of Football sideline (Rhein Fire). His team was the league’s champion in 2024.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has made several coaching staff changes since the conclusion of the 2024 season. The program hired Kansas offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes to the same position, moved Kenny Guiton to quarterbacks coach, hired Jordan Reid as wide receivers coach and promoted Jack Cooper to safeties coach. These moves follow the team’s disappointing 5-7 finish to the 2024 season — the program’s first bowl-less campaign since 2001.

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Report: Wisconsin football hires new defensive assistant

Report: Wisconsin football hires new defensive assistant

Wisconsin football is reportedly hiring Western Michigan defensive coordinator Scott Power as a defensive assistant, according to a report from FootballScoop’s John Brice.

Power spent the 2024 season leading the Broncos’ defense after several years as defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech. That followed stints as DC at Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M Commerce, Central Washington and Marian.

The experienced defensive coach is one of several new hires joining Wisconsin’s defensive staff. Since the conclusion of the 2024 season, Luke Fickell tabbed Jack Cooper as the program’s new safeties coach, plus hired former Ohio State standout Tuf Borland as assistant linebackers coach.

Power is the second Western Michigan assistant to leave for the Badgers this offseason, following wide receivers coach Jordan Reid.

Fickell’s offseason changes to the offensive staff include the hire of Jeff Grimes as offensive coordinator, the promotion of Kenny Guiton to quarterbacks coach, the hire of Reid, and the hire of assistants Joe Ludwig (tight ends) and Blake Rolan (wide receivers).

Wisconsin will enter 2025 with that revamped staff after the program finished the 2024 season at 5-7, missing a bowl game for the first time since 2001. Many of Fickell’s changes were made to reverse a trajectory currently pointed in the wrong direction.

Power will work with a defensive unit that finished that 2024 campaign allowing 23.1 points per game (46th in the nation). The unit struggled during the team’s five-game losing streak to close the season, allowing point totals of 28 to Penn State, 42 to Iowa, 16 to Oregon, 44 to Nebraska and 24 to Minnesota. The depth chart is set to look different in 2025 after a busy winter transfer window.

The Badgers open their 2025 schedule at home against Miami (OH). They then face Middle Tennessee and travel to Alabama before beginning a gauntlet conference schedule.

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Wisconsin top rival loses its defensive coordinator

Wisconsin top rival loses its defensive coordinator

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Minnesota defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman is leaving for the same position at Miami, as first reported by 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz. ESPN’s Pete Thamel later confirmed the move.

The fast-rising coordinator spent one season with the Gophers. He was previously the linebackers coach at Rutgers (2022-23), defensive coordinator at James Madison (2019-21) and defensive coordinator at Maine (2016-18).

Related: Final conference bowl records for 2024-25 college football postseason: Big Ten supremacy

Thamel reports that Minnesota will look internally for Hetherman’s replacement.

Hetherman departs after leading the Golden Gophers to the nation’s No. 5 total defense (285.7 yards allowed per game) and No. 9 scoring defense (16.9 points) in 2024. The unit was a driving force behind the team’s resurgent 8-5 season and 24-7 win over Wisconsin.

He reportedly signed a two-year extension with the Gophers last month after that breakout campaign. Matt Fortuna added the new contract, with a bigger buyout, ‘was not an impediment’ to Miami’s pursuit.

Wisconsin struggled mightily in that matchup against Hetherman and the Gophers defense. The Badgers managed just seven points on 166 total yards (136 passing, 30 rushing). That point tally is the team’s lowest in the rivalry matchup since 1990 (21-3 loss).

It goes without saying that the Badgers must reverse their recent form against their top rivals if 2025 is to look any different than the last two seasons. Minnesota ushering in a new defensive coordinator will be a storyline to watch as the end-of-season battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe nears.

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Report: Wisconsin cornerback Xavier Lucas still not in the transfer portal, hires attorney

Another big update to the Xavier Lucas transfer saga

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Wisconsin freshman cornerback Xavier Lucas has still yet to officially enter the transfer portal.

This update arrives nearly two weeks after Lucas’ last public comments on the situation (Dec. 27): “I still intend to transfer,” Lucas wrote on X. “But at the moment Wisconsin is refusing to release me into the transfer portal.”

Related: Where Wisconsin football transfers have signed so far

Those comments arrived as the winter transfer window was closing — players had until Dec. 28 to officially enter, unless they played in a bowl game scheduled for after that date.

On3’s Pete Nakos confirmed on Wednesday that Lucas’ name has yet to officially appear. According to the cornerback, this is due to Wisconsin blocking him from entering. According to a BadgerExtra report from Dec. 27, Wisconsin believes Lucas must honor a deal he signed with the program in early December — just days before publicly announcing his intention to transfer.

To add complexity to an issue that still appears far from a resolution: Lucas has reportedly hired legal representation. On3’s Matt Shodell confirmed on Tuesday that Lucas has hired Darren Heitner, a well-known Florida-based attorney who specializes in sports law and name, image and likeness (NIL). Heitner is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami where he teaches classes on the latter.

“I have contacted the NCAA demanding that it enforce its rules which require [Xavier] Lucas’ name to be entered into the transfer database,” Heitner wrote on X on Tuesday. “If Wisconsin doesn’t budge, then we will escalate this matter to litigation.”

There has been no public response from Wisconsin, nor any apparent resolution to Lucas’ desire to enter the portal. According to Heitner, litigation could soon follow.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, received major news on Wednesday with star cornerback Ricardo Hallman returning for a final season. Hallman and transfers Geimere Latimer (Jacksonville State) and D’Yoni Hill (Miami) figure to lead the team’s cornerback group in 2025.

Lucas’ impending departure is one of several from a cornerback room that was one of the Badgers’ strengths in 2024. Wisconsin has successfully recrafted its starting trio entering 2025. Its depth, however, remains a big question.

Nakos notes that Lucas would immediately become a top available transfer upon entering the portal.

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Former Wisconsin running backs coach set to take offensive line job at AAC program

Former Wisconsin running backs coach takes offensive line job at AAC program

Former Wisconsin running backs coach Al Johnson is expected to join Temple as its offensive line coach, according to 247Sports’ Chris Hummer.

Johnson spent the 2022 season with the Badgers. He’s most recently coached offensive line at Montana State (2023-24), where he helped lead the team to Football Championship Subdivision-best scoring totals.

His season at Wisconsin is his only as a running backs coach at any level. His coaching career has included stops as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Southern Door High School (2013), the same position at St. Norbert (D-III, 2014-15), a graduate assistant at Wisconsin (2016-17) and the head coach at East Central (D-II, 2018-21).

Johnson has then excelled coaching offensive line at Montana State over the past two seasons. He is now set to join new head coach K.C. Keeler’s Temple staff, one looking to turn around a program that has gone 3-9 in each of the last four seasons.

Wisconsin’s hire of Johnson in 2022 was one of several major moves as Paul Chryst overhauled his coaching staff. Other moves in that time include the hire of Bobby Engram as offensive coordinator, Chris Haering moving from special teams to tight ends and Bob Bostad moving from inside linebackers to offensive line,

That staff didn’t get much time to turn the team around, as Chryst was fired in early October after a 2-3 start. Luke Fickell then installed an entirely new coaching staff after taking the job in late-November.

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Longtime Paul Chryst assistant at Wisconsin rehired by Big 12 program

Former Paul Chryst Wisconsin assistant rehired by Big 12 program

West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez rehired former Wisconsin tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Chris Haering to an assistant role on Tuesday.

Rodriguez continues to build his coaching staff after joining the program in December. Haering has been an assistant special teams coach with the Mountaineers since 2023. Rodriguez rehired him to the same position.

Haering spent eight years with the Badgers before moving on after the 2022 campaign. That tenure lined up directly with head coach Paul Chryst’s — Haering was his special teams coordinator for seven seasons before coaching tight ends in 2022.

The former Badger assistant was part of an entire staff that was let go after the 2022 season as Luke Fickell took over at the helm.

Haering and Chryst go back further than their time with the Badgers — Haering coached for three seasons under Chryst at Pittsburgh (2012-14). They originally coached together on the West Virginia staff in the early 1990s, both as graduate assistants.

Haering played linebacker for the Mountaineers from 1986-89. He is currently ranked No. 11 in program history in tackles (340).

The special teams coach is one of two former Wisconsin assistants on Rodriguez’s West Virginia staff — Jack Bicknell Jr. (OL, 2023) signed on as its offensive line coach.

Rodriguez and his staff are working to reestablish a program that has not won 10 games since 2016 and was 37-35 in six seasons under former coach Neal Brown.

As Haering and Bicknell Jr. continue to coach, all eyes remain fixed on Chryst, who has been out of coaching since spending the 2023 season as an offensive analyst at Texas.

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